I Miss My Breakfast Doughnut

And just like that my adventure to New York City with Steph and Gerarda has come to an end. After a weekend of eating all the things, and drinking all the drinks, I’m back home in Guelph going through some serious 15th friendiversary withdrawal.

Following a night of jazzy goodness, I awoke Sunday morning feeling rather fantastic. I was more or less rested, and my liver seemed to be grateful that we didn’t again partake in a bottomless wine dinner the night before. Silly liver.

We began our day as we had the day before – with a casual walk to Doughnut Plant for first breakfast, followed by another casual walk to Chelsea Market for second breakfast and coffee. On one hand, I wish I could begin every day with a doughnut from Doughnut Plant, but on the other, I think my belt might buckle under the added pressures to contain my growing doughnut storage.

We sauntered some more, ate some more, drank some more, and eventually found ourselves at the Museum of Math, because who wouldn’t want to play in the Museum of Math? While the place was mostly full of younger kids and their parents (who thankfully weren’t sharing their fear and loathing of math), I found myself rather stoked to check out the various exhibits. I may or may not have spent far too long playing with the digital symmetry canvas painting various patterns. At least that’s what the kids in line to use it next were clearly displaying with their body language. For the record, I was oblivious to their presence because I may or may not have been absorbed in my creative mathings.

Following the digital symmetry painting canvas, we moved to the basement to see what else the museum had to offer. We entered a large room that had a digital maze projected onto the floor. The goal of the maze was to find your way to the end, but only by taking right-hand turns. We stood back and watched the kids and parents attempt the maze, to varying degrees of success. My favourite was watching a father “show” his child the solution, not realizing that his very first turn was a left-hand turn. We stood back, mentally calculating the solution. For the record, I may or may not have crushed it. Because math!

Having exhausted ourselves at the Museum, we opted to stop for a wee pint or two at a local pub. There I was joined by a former student, Hugo, who is currently interning at Morgan Stanley. We spent some time catching up over a pint and plotting potential future visits.

Of course, having spent so much time wandering and nerding out at the museum and drinking and eating, a late afternoon power nap was in order. We returned to the hotel and crashed pretty hard. And thankfully we did, because we still had a big night ahead. After recharging and a quick shower, we were off to see Scott Thompson of Kids In The Hall fame for a night of Buddy Cole Monologues. I honestly have not laughed that hard or for that long in some time. I won’t spoil any of the jokes here, but I will say, if you get a chance to see this performance, do. It is incredible and well worth the money.

Following the adventure that was Sunday, Monday may have been a slow day. As per the goal of the weekend, it included doughnuts and a visit to Chelsea Market, as well as more wandering about the city. Our attempts to hit up the MoMA were thwarted by a mad case of I can’t deal with crowds today, so instead, we opted to have sushi and ramen. Apparently, the ramen was magic because I felt like a new man after I was done with it. Not new enough to fight the crowds, but new enough to wander around the city some more.

Eventually, however, we had to head to the airport to fly home, but not before we made our final visit (of this trip) to Doughnut Plant for a post-lunch treat. Because healthy choices. If you are in New York City in the near future, I can’t stress enough how good these doughnuts are. Go. For the love of all things good in this world, go.

Thanks again to Steph and Gerarda for yet another amazing adventure. I can’t wait until we celebrate our next friendiversary. Also, I can’t pretend that I’m not impressed that my condo is lacking in the domain of breakfast doughnuts. Stupid doughnut-less condo.